Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2023

50 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023 ASTRO PUBLISHING New observations by a team of as- tronomers, including NSF’s NOIR- Lab’s André-Nicolas Chené, may shed important light on the origin of these magnetic powerhouses. Using various telescopes around the globe, including the Canada-France- Hawai‘i Telescope (CFHT) on Mau- nakea, the researchers have identified a new type of astronomi- cal object — a massive magnetic he- lium star (an unusual variant of a Wolf-Rayet star), which may be the precursor of a magnetar. “For the first time, a strong mag- netic field was discovered in a mas- sive helium star,” said Chené. “Our study suggests that this helium star will end its life as a magnetar.” Despite having been observed for more than a century by as- tronomers, little was known about Astronomers find progenitor of magnetic monster by NOIRLab Charles Blue N eutron stars, the compact re- mains of a massive star fol- lowing a supernova explosion, are the densest matter in the Uni- verse. Some neutron stars, known as magnetars, also claim the record for the strongest magnetic fields of any object. How magnetars, which are a mere 15 kilometers across, form and produce such colossal magnetic fields remains a mystery.